Nigerian Tier-1 Banks Report 18% Decline in Combined Pre-Tax Profit for 2025

Five listed Nigerian Tier-1 banks,Access Holdings, FirstHoldco, GTCO, UBA, and Zenith Bank (collectively known as FUGAZ),have released their full-year 2025 results for the period ended December 2025, reporting a combined pre-tax profit of N4.15 trillion. This represents an 18% decline from N5.06 trillion in 2024.

The decline was primarily driven by a sharp drop in net trading and foreign exchange gains, alongside a surge in impairment charges and operating expenses. However, the banks' core operations remained strong.

Strong Core Earnings

Combined interest income rose 17.66% to N14.49 trillion from N12.31 trillion in 2024.

• Interest income from loans and advances to customers contributed N7.2 trillion, an 18% increase from N6.13 trillion, accounting for roughly 50% of total interest income.
• Income from investments in treasury bills, bonds, and other financial assets totaled N6.21 trillion, a 16.8% increase from N5.31 trillion, representing about 43% of total interest income.

This narrowing gap between lending and securities income indicates banks are increasingly allocating capital to government instruments rather than relying primarily on lending.

Individual bank strategies diverged: UBA and GTCO generated more income from securities than loans.

• UBA: N1.47 trillion from securities vs. N864.5 billion from loans.
• GTCO: N789.8 billion from securities vs. N559.4 billion from loans.

In contrast, Access Holdings, FirstHoldco, and Zenith Bank earned more from loans:

• Access Holdings: N1.95 trillion from loans vs. N1.35 trillion from securities.
• Zenith Bank: N1.82 trillion from loans vs. N1.64 trillion from securities.

Shift Toward Investment Securities

Combined loans and advances grew 7.63% to N43.01 trillion, compared to 23.25% growth in investment securities to N48.88 trillion. Investment securities now exceed loans, underscoring their growing role on balance sheets.

FirstHoldco and Zenith Bank remain more lending-focused, though the gap is narrowing. See related bank fee pressures.

Rising Impairment Charges

Impairment charges on loans and advances rose 58.73% to N2.29 trillion from N1.44 trillion, possibly linked to the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) exit of regulatory forbearance in 2024. Learn more on CBN reforms.

• Access Holdings: +209.19% to N287.37 billion.
• FirstHoldco: +91.36% to N710.03 billion.
• UBA: +54.40%.
• Zenith Bank: +41.95%.
• GTCO: -51.40%.

Weaker FX Income and Higher Operating Expenses

Net trading and foreign exchange income fell 53% to N1.52 trillion from N3.22 trillion.

• Access Holdings: +40.33% to N1.23 trillion.
• FirstHoldco: -90.75% to N47.2 billion.
• Zenith Bank: -89.71%.
• GTCO: -51.96%.
• UBA: Net loss of N140.6 billion (vs. N181.8 billion gain in 2024).

Operating expenses rose 29.03% to N5.53 trillion from N4.29 trillion.

• UBA: +70.83%.
• FirstHoldco: +36.12%.
• Zenith Bank: +23.26%.
• GTCO: +17.95%.
• Access Holdings: +12.38%.

Balance Sheet Strength

Total assets grew 10.29% to N160.97 trillion from N145.95 trillion, supported by customer deposits of N114.27 trillion. This reflects underlying strength and stability, positioning the banks for sustained growth. Compare with sector revenue trends.